Day 1
WARNING: This entry contains images that may be disturbing to some readers.
I guess I will begin Day 1by saying how Nigth 0 went! The neck pillow I bought from Amazon worked amazingly well. Here is the link to it: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B075B48B3B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I used two pillows to be on a 45° angle and then the neck pillow to keep myself from rolling over or laying on my side. Additionally, I put my arms inside my pyjama shirt to prevent myself from touching the grafts unconsciously while I was asleep. Probably overkill, but I’m just trying to protect my investment!
I woke up at 9 since I said I’d be at the clinic at 10, and it takes 30 mins to get there from my place. I wanted to stop by Starbucks to buy some gift cards for the staff since they were so amazing. Unfortunately, I discovered one of my tires was completely flat around a block away from my house. Luckily my amazing partner rescued me in the other car, so I just took that one to my appointment and was just a few minutes late. This has nothing to do with the blog, but it’s mostly for me to remember years from now!
When I got to the clinic, the staff was very impressed with how well everything was healing thus far. Apparently, they could tell that I had been following the instructions correctly since some people say they are spraying their grafts, but they don’t. Why anyone wouldn’t do everything to take care of such an expensive investment in yourself is beyond me.
One of them, Adriana, removed my bandage and washed my hair. She also gave me further post-op instructions for the next few weeks, as I won’t see them again for a month. Dr. Bobby then taught me how to massage my scalp to prevent swelling as much as possible. A massage sounded nice, but you do need to move the liquids around your forehead quite forcibly, so it’s not so much of a massage but a “displacement of liquid,” really. During the massage, they gave me a mirror to see what Dr. Bobby was doing. This was the first time I got to see the side grafts. I was impressed with how good the hairline looks! I really have great feelings about how this transplant will go.
All in all, I was very happy with all their comments about how everything looks so far. I was also impressed to learn that one of the assistants has had 2 transplants himself. His hair looks great and very natural. If he hadn’t told me, I would never have known. I am very excited to see the results of my own transplant in a few months! Dr. Bobby let me know that I will resume my Finasteride in 2 weeks, but then in a month, he wants to start me on both Finasteride and Minoxidil for a year. Then in a year, I’ll stick to just one or the other. I am all for it. I want great hair for as long as possible!
When I got home, I removed my bandana. I really don’t plan to use that bandana again so that absolutely nothing touches my grafts. I only wore it today since I would be out in public, but I don’t plan on leaving the house until I can safely wear a hat or a wig. This was the first time I looked at the donor area since the procedure. Here are some pictures of how it looks, but please be warned that they may be a bit disturbing for readers with sensitive stomachs:
It can be alarming to see blood like that in 2,000 spots, but this is completely normal. Later in this entry, I will also show you what this can do to pillows (also a bit disturbing — be warned!). And here are pictures of the new hairline:
I am excited to see the sides and how they meet with the hairline. I really can’t wait to see what this will look like in a few months! The ponytail they gave me is pretty silly, but I will keep it for a few days so it doesn’t touch the grafts. Then I may very well just get rid of it. The longer hair at the top will probably look pretty bad compared to the rest of the nearly shaved head. We’ll see how it looks in a few days when I can shower normally.
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As for showering, on the first day post-op, you are supposed to wash your head 3 times. I decided to bathe instead of shower, as this seemed like the most comfortable and easiest way to ensure that the grafts would be as undisturbed as possible. I filled my tub with warm water. When I take baths, the water is usually pretty hot, but I didn’t want the bathroom to get all foggy, so I just used warm water this time. I had a measuring cup with a spout with lukewarm water and a cup where I mixed a little bit of water with the baby soap the clinic gave me. I watched a video that another transplant clinic posted about washing the grafts, so I also had a soft sponge with me. I dipped the sponge in the shampoo mixture and ever so gently dabbed the transplant area with it to get some bubbles on there. Then I used my measuring cup to pour water over them gently. Once I was done, I noticed that some white “crusts” were surrounding the grafts. As I was drying (letting the grafts air dry, of course), I took a picture of the crusts, which were already fading, and sent it to the clinic to ask if they were normal. I was worried I needed to rinse again or that I had messed up with the sponge. This is what they looked like:
While I was waiting for an answer, I saw very similar pictures on the internet from other transplant patients, and the consensus was that they are just wet scabs that eventually dry up. Adriana got back to me pretty quickly and confirmed that that was normal but also asked me not to touch the grafts with anything but the baby shampoo + water mixture, so I won’t be using the sponge for my third wash of the day.
Later in the day, it was time for my nap. Since I no longer had my bandages and my donor area was still leaking, I had to use one of the pillow underpads they gave me. This next picture is not disturbing, but it can be a bit gross. I just want to show you how much leakage can be normal:
Keep in mind that I am wearing the neck pillow I linked above to sleep, so the underpad is wrapped around it, and then the pillow goes around my neck, so this is why the area looks so wide. Of course, after seeing that, I texted Dr. Bobby to ask if so much leakage was still normal, to which he replied that it is completely normal for up to 7 days.
I will now go do my third wash of the day. After today, I only have to wash twice per day for a few days, and then my routine can go back to normal after day 7. I don’t think there’s anything else to report for now. I will update this again tomorrow to recount how day 3 goes.
As usual, thank you to whoever may be reading this! I hope this is helpful somehow.
